Top 15 Essie's of 2015

Before I get into my fave polishes of 2015, I just wanted to thank everyone that entered my 2nd Blogiversary Giveaway. You guys gave me a ton of valuable feedback and I'm looking forward to making 2016 a year of really quality content on Essie Envy. Oh and by the way, the lucky winner of the giveaway was Alicia from Houston, Texas!

Alright, back to favourites. A week ago I posted my favourite Essie's that were released in 2015 but I didn't think that fully encapsulated the entire year because there were so many others that I LOVED. So I guess this is kind of like a part 2 to that initial post - all together a Top 25 for the year!

Again, I put them in no particular order other than starting with Spring and moving through the seasons because that's the way I wear polish. Once a particular season is over, I tend to shelve that polish and move onto a different palette of colours.

Van D'Go

This light peachy pink is insanely beautiful and so flattering on my skin tone. Every time I wear it, I end up admiring my hands. I said in my Van D'Go post almost 2 years ago that this was my fave Spring colour at the moment and possibly one of my favourite Essie's of all-time and I still agree with that sentiment! I also added it to my polish picks for Summer because I love the way this colour looks with a tan.

Lilacism

I discovered this shade last year because of my friend Ruve. I had always passed Lilacism over when I saw it on the polish shelves at the drugstore because it doesn't look like much in the bottle. Seeing it on Ruve's nails and how incredibly gorgeous it was I had to buy it. The formula isn't awesome, you do have to work with it a bit and apply it just right, but I love the effect once it's on. Kind of grey, kind of lilac, kind of blue....it's all of those things depending on the light you are in. Lilacism basically looks identical to Virgin Snow (which also made it to my faves this year) and I would say the formula on Virgin Snow is better than Lilacism's as well, but I haven't spent enough time with Virgin Snow for it to win my heart over Lilacism yet. Virgin Snow is a tad brighter as well, so the overall manicure is slightly brighter and a bit different. I like the greyed out tones of Lilacism. It's more subtle.

Urban Jungle

This shade. I LOOOOOOOOOVE this shade. Urban Jungle is an off-white cream colour with a touch of blush pink and I really, really love it. This colour transcends seasons for me and I would totally wear this colour year round.

Lovie Dovie

Lovie Dovie was such a beautiful medium toned pink that I discovered this year because of Estee Lalonde. It's an absolutely perfect pink to wear in the Spring. If you have always wanted Essie's Boom Boom Room and can't find it, try Lovie Dovie. It is the exact same shade of pink except Boom Boom Room is a bit brighter. Other than that, they are very close.

Tuck It In My Tux

Tuck It In My Tux was my first sheer white by Essie and I had always wanted to try one. I found this one on clearance in the summer time and managed to wear it several times throughout the rest of the year (which is actually quite uncommon for me since I have so much polish to get through I tend to wear colours only once in a whole year!) I loved how clean and classic my nails look and I dig the whole sheer thing where I can see my nail line. It makes me feel like I'm wearing a gel manicure. After comparing Tuck It In My Tux to Marshmallow last month, I have to admit that Marshmallow had the superior formula for a sheer jelly white and may have knocked Tuck It In My Tux out of my favourites. BUT! I still had to include it because I enjoyed it and wore it so much of the year. I do really like that Tuck It In My Tux is slightly off-white whereas Marshmallow is more true white, I just wish I could completely get rid of those streaks!

Aruba Blue

I think I say this every time I post anything about Aruba Blue but I don't know how else to describe it: this polish is gorgeous and looks like glowing sapphires on your nails! It's also a perfect 2-coat formula. If I were making a mental list of my all-time favourite Essie's ever, this would be on it.

In The Cabana

Ok, In The Cabana might be on that all-time favourites list too! The Resort Collection of 2013 feels really special to me because it was the first time since I had started collecting polish that I was actively seeking out a brand new collection. Once I saw it, I couldn't help but buy the whole thing even though I went with only this polish in mind! In the Cabana is this amazing aqua azure colour that is so bright and beautiful. I love this one every Spring and Summer and I'm already looking forward to wearing it again.

I'm Addicted

I did a comparison of Essie aqua's in the Spring and I had to borrow I'm Addicted from my friend Austrian to do it. After that comparison I was hooked and needed to get my hands on my own bottle. I knew it was a good polish when my pic got almost 800 likes on Instagram and I didn't have a lot of followers at the time!

Carry On

My friend Bree gave this polish to me and I think part of my loving it so much is the sentiment behind it. True, it's a fabulous burgundy that leans a touch more purple than oxblood red and also true it has a fantastic formula, but it came from Bree and that gave it a special place in my heart last year. That's actually kind of the downside to making these huge nail polish hauls because then it removes sentiment and attachment to polishes. The other downside to having such a huge collection is because nobody wants to gift me with Essie's any more!

Maximillian Strasse Her

I love grey polishes and this one has a touch of blue-green to it. It's funny because when I read through that post from 2 years ago, I was mentioning that this grey polish came out in the Spring collection but I had no desire to wear it until it was Winter...hmmmm, sounds like I've said that before about another grey! (I'm looking at you Petal Pusher) Anyways, gorgeous polish.

Angora Cardi

When Pantone announced the colour of 2015 was Marsala (a reddish brown mauve) they definitely hit the nail on the head! Last year was all about mauve everything, especially towards the end of the year. While Angora Cardi had never turned my head before (I actually remember thinking "ew that's ugly") by September I was allllllll about it. It has a great formula too.

Bordeaux

I really discovered my love for well done jelly polishes this year and Bordeaux really fits that category. It's an absolutely wonderful deep wine red that builds and gets deeper as you put on more coats. Some may dislike this formula but I thought it was perfect and yelled out "OH YES" the first time I applied it. I also really loved the Christmasey jelly sandwich I did with Bordeaux and Rock At The Top and a lot of you guys did too!

After School Boy Blazer

Every nail blogger seems to have and love this polish so I dove in and added it to my collection. I really do love the formula and what a pretty navy blue it is. It's so dark it's almost-black in some lights, but it's a great vamp shade. I also love it with a coat of Carnival on top.

Lady Like

I started trying out nude polishes this year and so far this one is my favourite. The deeper cool mauve tones make it stand out on the nail, instead of being like mannequin hands, but it's still a soft neutral shade. Bonus: my hubby said he liked it!

Sew Psyched

I basically only wear Sew Psyched in the Fall but when I do, I love it so frickin' much. Because it's such a muted green, it works really well as a neutral and goes with all of my fall wardrobe. Another score is that it has a wonderful formula.

Alright that was a marathon! I'm curious to see if these polishes will change much next year.

What polishes were you loving in 2015? Do we have any that overlap?

Kindra

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I got into nail polish this year, and it was because of I'm Addicted. I saw a picture on Instagram of someone holding a coffee cup with bright blue nails and I thought, "That looks fun!" But I couldn't find a color anywhere near it at Walgreens or Ulta. Then I went to LA and decided to get a manicure somewhere where they had a huge selection and I found I'm Addicted, which wasn't exactly what I was looking for, which I now think was Make Some Noise, but close enough! I got a ton of compliments and never wanted it to end.

I ended up ordering a bottle on ebay, and in the meantime I bought In The Cabana, which at the time I found to be a big disappointment compared to I'm Addicted, but now seeing here I'm anxious to give it another try this summer!

Note to self: don't stand in front of an Essie counter pondering what colour to buy and browsing essieenvy.com on your phone for swatches...bad idea!!! Needless to say, I came out with Ballet Slippers (I thought it was the best and least streaky from your sheer nude comparison post). Maximillian Strasse Her (it could also be added to your grey comparison post, I went for Petal Pushers too) and finally Sew Psyched, because I have 2 emerald greens already, and this swampy green really matches my green eyes :) So Kindra, how does it feel to be such an enabler? :P jk...I don't know what I would do without your amazing swatches :D